Persona

Can be broken down and interpreted a million different ways, seemingly though the thing that stuck with me the most this time is Bergmans commentary on art itself. The line blurs between Alma and Elisabet as one being the physical, and the other being the subconscious of the same person. While at the same time Elisabet can be seen as a represention of the rejection of the roles in her life that’s given to her by others, and Alma being the facade she puts on for the world around her. Bergman to me tells a story of how we can be shaped by both the art and world we experience, but it can tear our physical away from our mental in the process if we let it. In short, Alma acts as the Persona and Elisabet acts as the self. The self is indifferent, in turn employing the persona to fill the gaps in her life that are empty. For Elisabets silence, comes Alma’s loquaciousness. For Elisabets desire to not be a mother, comes Alma’s excitement.  In the beginning of the film Elisabet is watching the news  in her hospital room, a terrifying clip is played on the TV, one of the Vietnamese monk who set himself on fire in the middle of the street in 1963. This stuck with me the whole time, to me conveying that even in our most isolated and vulnerable spaces we can always be exposed to the horrors of the outside world. Though she tries to run from it, Elisebet is simultaneously a part of this problem too in a personal sense. She rejects and abandons her son, only having him in the first place for the same societal expectations she’s afraid of.  A real jarring experience, with some of the most effective editing and imagery I’ve ever seen put to screen. One of the best films of all time.